The giant just gave him a smile gesturing for him to sit at the table. "Come on sit down, let us discuss these things after eating breakfast, I didn't prepare this feast for it to go cold uneaten." Curtis reluctantly sat at the table, frustrated that the giant was stalling for his answer. Information for him is crucial, he still doesn't have much idea of what his purpose here is.
Taking a look at the table Curtis was a bit overwhelmed, it was full of delicacies, most of which he has never even seen before; dishes that looked like pieces of art, Curtis thought that they wouldn't look weird if it was placed in a museum for display. Noticing his awe, the giant let out a laugh.
"Impressed aren't ya? Made everything myself." he chortled, much to the amusement of the two women accompanying them. "Sir Hjilmar loves to cook, in the time we stayed here, we barely ate something the same way. Most of the food he makes is delicious and exotic, you won't find them anywhere else.��� Sally supplied, with an agreeable hum from her friend who already started to eat without them.
The giant serving as the host gave a hearty toast to his guests.
"Since she has already started to eat, let me just start the toast, and because she took the first bite, this is for her, Cheers to little Edna, for still being the strong girl that she is, o how I miss the days where you cried just because you got bullied by Sally."
The toast earned a snort from the woman in question, but she cheered anyway, still busy with her food.
"Cheers to little Sally for being the feisty little minx that she is. I hope you get married in the future and don't forget to invite me to the wedding."
The last part got a *No way*, from the woman. But, Curtis could see the smile that crept up to her mouth from the message for her.
"And last but not the least, cheers to little Curtis here for bringing back the lost bloodline of the De Leon's. Until you are of age, I will be mentoring you, and after the fact, you will then inherit your family's legacy, here in Candelabra."
"Legacy?" Curtis couldn't help but interrupt, to which Hjilmar just waved him off, gesturing to the food in front of him, "Questions later, let us feast!" he announced
Curtis nodded and began to look over the table, trying to find something familiar, he spotted a chicken leg and took a bite, unsurprisingly it was good, great even. It was a lot better than the food he had before, the chicken was still hot, but cooled enough to be eaten without burning his lips. The skin almost melted in his mouth, the meat was firm but juicy enough that he could taste the spices that seeped in, he was hooked almost instantly.
"Keep eating, if you don't, everything will be gone before you notice," Edna whispered, filling her plate again after devouring everything on it the first time.
Taking a look at everyone busy with their food, he didn't try to argue and started to enjoy the feast himself. Everything tasted different, nothing had the same flavor, but curiously, everything tasted great, Curtis couldn't really complain about anything. One thing he did notice though, was that his sense of taste was much sharper than before, with each bite he took, he was able to distinguish every ingredient that he could recognize. It was a pleasant experience, he was able to savor the food much better than before. And before he even noticed, the table was empty. He couldn't even recount what he had eaten, he remembered stuffing himself with chicken legs after the first one, shrimps that tasted like milk practically just flowed from his plate down to his stomach, eel that melted inside his mouth, beef that was so soft that when he bites into, it just dissolves into juices. And many more. The giant only ate a few, tasting some of the more exotic dishes, while the two ate the rest.
After the meal, the giant gestured for the three to follow him. They arrived at the lounge, a bigger than normal sofa was placed in front of the fireplace, with two smaller pieces of furniture by the side. Hjilmar gestured for him to sit at one, while the two women sat at the other.
"Okay kid, let's start. I will answer most of the questions I can answer, go ahead, ask them." the giant started.
"Why am I here?" Curtis started, for him, right now, this was the most important question, he wasn't given any information on the way here, and that frustrated him to no end. His life was in their hands. He needed the answer to this question badly.
"Well kid, hmmm." the giant contemplated, " You're here because of a star, a vision, or a prophecy." Curtis looked about ready to blow up with this answer, but the giant continued. "You see, we are in what is called, a pocket dimension, in this pocket dimension there are certain rules you see, what is outside cannot just come in, unless they pass through the dimensional gate. The one you passed through, the big looking dark hole you passed.�� he clarified, "But then, a star crashed into the middle of the city. It should have been impossible. What we see outside is just a reflection of the sky; filtered by the barrier of this dimension. Nothing should be able to pass through that." He added, pausing for the others to absorb the information. It all seemed like a high-level secret, probably only known to a select few. Curtis was deep in thought, the star might have been from Vera, she is a god, and should be very powerful enough to bypass that barrier.
"The star contained an Anito, when I absorbed it, It ingrained information in my head that we needed to find someone in that forest." He laid out, looking at Curtis who was processing the info, it was a bit to take in. His escape, his destination, and his path was laid out for him. It irked him a bit. Having no control over what was happening to him, the events of his life looked like it was already planned out up to this point. He wasn't sure what to think of it.
"So what now?" Curtis voiced out, he was feeling helpless. Sure he wanted to grow stronger to save his family. Right now he wasn't good enough to do that just yet. And if the giant's words were true earlier. He'd train him, mentor him. But was it enough to save his family? What if by the time he finished his training, he'd have nothing left to save?. His sister, his older brother, his parents, Esbern, Millie, will they be able to wait for him?
"Don't worry about your family right now, boy. As you are now, it'll be like jumping straight into death's jaws for you." Hjilmar answered, seeing the worry in the boy's eyes. "These two will train you, and when you are good enough. I will break you down to dust and build you up again. As many times as it takes until you can stand up and save them." A feral smile creeping up to his face.
"Okay, but I will head back once we're done." Curtis acquiesced, at least it wasn't the giant that was going to train him for now. The past few hours were almost unbearable for him, it was only his will to get stronger that was keeping him together. His gaze passed the two who were going to train him. But seeing the same feral smile on their faces gave him a worse feeling. It seemed that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
~~~
The night before Curtis awakened.
Inside the same hall where Curtis was brought to be interrogated and where he fully awakened. It was dark out, but the hall was still brightly lit by the flames that slowly burned, perched onto its torches that were adorning the walls.
Six people were discussing things heatedly inside. The giant Hjilmar volunteered to handle the physical training of the boy, none contested this against him as they didn't want to argue with the stubborn giant.
The education of the boy would be delegated to one of their officials, Sally or Bruce, the giant advocated for his student, but the night elf firmly countered that her nephew should handle the boy's education.
"Let Sally do it, she will teach the boy right!" He proclaimed. "She is too soft, the boy needs to be ruthless for the fight against chaos, let Bruce teach him, the fighting has died down anyway, he has nothing to do, Sally on the other hand still has her duties to the council," she countered.
"Sir Pumba, what do you think?" The only human in the room voiced out. His wrinkled hands raised, silencing the room.
The dragonkin didn't like being in the spotlight, scratched his head. He was the youngest one in the room, but nevertheless, he was part of the wisest clan in the city.
"I believe I speak for most of us here when I say that, Sally should handle his education." Pumba's words silenced the room, earning approving looks from the members except for the Night elf.
"Care to explain, reptile?" She spat out. "Why would my Bruce not be good enough?"
"I was getting to that Miss Klee, Bruce is a great commander, the best even," the night elf clearly appreciated the compliment to her nephew. "He gets results, but. The price for those results is the iron price." Silence reigned in the room. "He is our best, I do not doubt that, but he has been bloodied too hard. He will be harsh, his soldiers will die for him. The boy is young, and he may not react well to that."
"Chaos is coming, we need strong soldiers." She countered "My Bruce will make him a strong warrior."
"You said it yourself Miss Klee, we need strong warriors, Sally is smart, she will know that too. And she can turn him into that warrior. Yes, Bruce will do that too, but again he is too rough. Sally, on the other hand, has one of the best track records, she has not failed an assignment, she is loved by the soldiers, granted that Bruce is too, but Sally still has her compassion, the soldiers love her, while they fear Bruce."
"With Sally teaching the boy, he will feel like he belongs here, she will ensure that the boy will love the city as we love it.
"The boy needs to be tied to us, we must raise him well so that he will stand with us when chaos comes knocking on our door." He finished, getting a nod from the old man.
"All in favor of Sally to teach the boy?" He started.
"Agreed"
"Agreed"
"Agreed"
The night elf looked wronged, but she couldn't dispute the dragon from his argument. They need the boy, and she knows it.
"....Agreed"
"And for our last topic. Edna and her crew spotted some traces of Chaos in the continent, and from what I've seen in the boy's head. Their influence isn't small." the giant voiced out, his concern for the continent noticeable from his voice.
The mention of Chaos being present in the continent drew worried looks from everyone present.
"I've checked with the scouts and it seems they've withdrawn, but they have already sown their seeds." The giant added.
"It seems Bruce will have something to do after all." Pumba pointed out.
"Agreed, I will notify him, and only send out a small team to police the continent."
"Meeting adjourned, we will meet again on the morrow, for updates on the continent, notify us, Miss Klee, once he is back." The old man ordered, getting a nod from the night elf.
"For the end of Chaos." They chanted.